American freestyle skier Hunter Hess’s “mixed emotions” comments about representing the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics have drawn criticism from some fans and observers.
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Perhaps the most famous and outspoken of them all was Mike Eruzione, the legendary 1980 U.S. ice hockey gold medalist, who responded to Hess on social media.
At a press conference with the U.S. Freeski Team in Milan on Friday, the 27-year-old Hess said he felt conflicted because “there’s a lot of things that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think neither are a lot of people.”
“I think there are mixed emotions that come with representing the United States right now,” Hess said, via KGW8 in Portland, Oregon. “It’s a little difficult. There’s obviously a lot of things that I’m not a favorite about, and I think a lot of people aren’t either.”
“For me, it’s more about representing my friends and family back home, representing the people in front of me, and all that I think is good about America,” he added. “I think if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I represent it. Just because I wear the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in America.”
The comments angered Eruzione, captain of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” gold medal team who scored the winning goal in the medal game. He has previously expressed support for Donald Trump, but in his response to Hess, he did not mention the president. He said if a skier would rather represent friends and family, then he shouldn’t wear a uniform representing the United States.
“American skier Hunter Hess says he is not representing his country but his family and friends,” Eruzione posted. “Then don’t wear a USA uniform; maybe just wear it for family and friends. Some athletes just don’t get it.”
Eruzione was criticized for appearing at a 2020 Trump rally with his USA Hockey teammates and wearing a “Keep America Great” hat.
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In response to the backlash he received for his appearance, Eruzione expressed regret for wearing the hat.
“If we knew we were going to piss off so many people, we probably wouldn’t have put our hats on,” Eruzione, 65, told the Washington Post. “That’s a big issue here. A lot of the stuff I get is, ‘You say it’s not political, but when you put your hat on, you make it political.’ “
Presumably, in Eruzione’s view, Hess’s comments “politicized it.” However, he’s not the only American athlete to express ambivalence about what’s going on. Freestyle aerialist Chris Lillis said he would not want to represent any other country but was “heartbroken” by current events.
“I am heartbroken by what is happening in America,” Lillis said, via The Washington Post. “I think as a country we need to focus on respecting everyone’s rights and making sure that we treat our citizens and anyone else with love and respect. I hope that when people see the athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that this is the America that we’re trying to represent.”